Sex and ethnic differences in the perception of educational and career-related barriers and levels of coping efficacy

Participants (168 female and 118 male undergraduate students) completed a brief questionnaire, a measure of perceived educational and career-related barriers, and a measure of coping efficacy. As expected women and ethnic minorities anticipated significantly more career-related barriers than did men and European American students, respectively. Ethnic minorities also exhibited more perceived educational barriers and lower self-efficacy for coping with perceived career-related barriers relative to their European American counterparts. Findings are discussed in terms of their theoretical implications and practical career counseling applications.